Bulletins
| Bulletin | Bulletin date | Replacement Bulletin | Item no. | Summary | Added |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - ENGINE - GASOLINE | |||||
| 15496 | 12/01/2001 | 630605 | Some vehicles built before april 23, 2001 may exhibit a hard start/long crank after sitting for an hour or more due to fuel system contamination. *tt | 04/18/2002 | |
| 15422 | 11/01/2001 | 630442 | Some vehicles may exhibit a hard start/long crank condition after sitting for an hour or more. *tt | 04/17/2002 | |
| 15567 | 01/01/2002 | 630105 | Some vehicles built before april 23, 2001 may exhibit a hard start/long crank after sitting for an hour or more. *tt | 04/12/2002 | |
| 15040 | 01/01/2002 | 630022 | Some vehicles including 1997 through 1999 explorer sport trac equipped with a 4.0l sohc engine may exhibit a start-up noise from the left front of the engine. *tt | 04/11/2002 | |
| 01205 | 10/15/2001 | 627927 | Some vehicles may exhibit vacuum or air leaks in the intake manifold and / or engine system causing diagnostic trouble codes p0171 and or p0174. *tt | 02/26/2002 | |
| 15006 | 06/01/2001 | 622817 | Some vehicles with 4.0l sohc engines may make a start-up noise from the left front of the engine. *tt | 10/23/2001 | |
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - EXHAUST SYSTEM - EMISSION CONTROL - CATALYTIC CONVERTOR | |||||
| CSP-08B01 | 05/16/2008 | 10026389 | Ford: certain 1999-2001 model year vehicles up to 6000 lb gvwr registered in new york and certain 2001 vehicles up to 6000 lb gvwr registered in the state of maine, certified for sale in california-federal emission warranty refund. *pe | 10/23/2008 | |
Investigations
| NHTSA ID | Manufacturer | Date open | Date close | Subject | Recall campaign | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING | ||||||
| DP05005 | FORD MOTOR COMPANY | 09/22/2005 | 01/04/2006 | SPARK PLUG EJECTION FROM CYLINDER HEAD | ||
| On september 6, 2005, odi received a petition requesting that the agency investigate allegations of engine spark plug ejection in certain model year 1997 through 2004 ford vehicles with triton v-8 and v-10 engines.odi received a total of 474 non-duplicative complaints on the subject vehicles where the complainant, or the dealer repairing the vehicle, reported that a spark plug detached from the cylinder and/or ejected from the engine.as of december 8, 2005, odi is not aware of any allegations where the alleged defect resulted in a loss of vehicle control, a crash, an injury, or a fatality in any of the 10,319,810 subject vehicles.in addition, odi is aware of only two incidents where the vehicle stalled without restart.information contained in the odi consumer complaints and obtained from 72 telephone interviews with complainants showed the following:(1) 99% of the complaints were on my 1997 to 2002 subject vehicles.(2) most the complainants reported hearing a loud pop while driving or upon starting up the vehicle followed by a loud, repetitive clicking or popping sound.(3) many of the complainants reported that the popping sound was accompanied by some loss of vehicle power; however, in 99% of the incidents reported, the vehicle did not stall.in the very few incidents where the vehicle did stall, most vehicles could be restarted.(4) only a small percentage of the complainants cited that they smelled gas or a slight burning smell when the incident occurred.(5) in all but a very few incidents, vehicle damage was limited to the engine.in one incident, the complaint reported that the fuel rail was damaged and replaced after one of the spark plugs ejected from the engine; however, the complainant reported that the damage did not result in any type of fuel leak or fire.in another incident, the only incident where a fire was alleged, the complainant reported that no fluid leak was observed, but that a fire resulted after the spark plug had ejected from the engine and he had restarted the vehicle and driven to another location.none of the complainants reported any damage to the vehicle hood.(6) only two complainants reported that they observed what appeared to be some drops of fuel coming from the cylinder where the spark plug had failed or on the spark plug itself; however, each of these complainants reported that there was no smoke or flames as a result of his incident.as the petitioner noted, and odi | ||||||
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - ENGINE | ||||||
| DP05005 | FORD MOTOR COMPANY | 09/22/2005 | 01/04/2006 | SPARK PLUG EJECTION FROM CYLINDER HEAD | ||
| On september 6, 2005, odi received a petition requesting that the agency investigate allegations of engine spark plug ejection in certain model year 1997 through 2004 ford vehicles with triton v-8 and v-10 engines.odi received a total of 474 non-duplicative complaints on the subject vehicles where the complainant, or the dealer repairing the vehicle, reported that a spark plug detached from the cylinder and/or ejected from the engine.as of december 8, 2005, odi is not aware of any allegations where the alleged defect resulted in a loss of vehicle control, a crash, an injury, or a fatality in any of the 10,319,810 subject vehicles.in addition, odi is aware of only two incidents where the vehicle stalled without restart.information contained in the odi consumer complaints and obtained from 72 telephone interviews with complainants showed the following:(1) 99% of the complaints were on my 1997 to 2002 subject vehicles.(2) most the complainants reported hearing a loud pop while driving or upon starting up the vehicle followed by a loud, repetitive clicking or popping sound.(3) many of the complainants reported that the popping sound was accompanied by some loss of vehicle power; however, in 99% of the incidents reported, the vehicle did not stall.in the very few incidents where the vehicle did stall, most vehicles could be restarted.(4) only a small percentage of the complainants cited that they smelled gas or a slight burning smell when the incident occurred.(5) in all but a very few incidents, vehicle damage was limited to the engine.in one incident, the complaint reported that the fuel rail was damaged and replaced after one of the spark plugs ejected from the engine; however, the complainant reported that the damage did not result in any type of fuel leak or fire.in another incident, the only incident where a fire was alleged, the complainant reported that no fluid leak was observed, but that a fire resulted after the spark plug had ejected from the engine and he had restarted the vehicle and driven to another location.none of the complainants reported any damage to the vehicle hood.(6) only two complainants reported that they observed what appeared to be some drops of fuel coming from the cylinder where the spark plug had failed or on the spark plug itself; however, each of these complainants reported that there was no smoke or flames as a result of his incident.as the petitioner noted, and odi | ||||||
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - ENGINE - GASOLINE | ||||||
| DP05005 | FORD MOTOR COMPANY | 09/22/2005 | 01/04/2006 | SPARK PLUG EJECTION FROM CYLINDER HEAD | ||
| On september 6, 2005, odi received a petition requesting that the agency investigate allegations of engine spark plug ejection in certain model year 1997 through 2004 ford vehicles with triton v-8 and v-10 engines.odi received a total of 474 non-duplicative complaints on the subject vehicles where the complainant, or the dealer repairing the vehicle, reported that a spark plug detached from the cylinder and/or ejected from the engine.as of december 8, 2005, odi is not aware of any allegations where the alleged defect resulted in a loss of vehicle control, a crash, an injury, or a fatality in any of the 10,319,810 subject vehicles.in addition, odi is aware of only two incidents where the vehicle stalled without restart.information contained in the odi consumer complaints and obtained from 72 telephone interviews with complainants showed the following:(1) 99% of the complaints were on my 1997 to 2002 subject vehicles.(2) most the complainants reported hearing a loud pop while driving or upon starting up the vehicle followed by a loud, repetitive clicking or popping sound.(3) many of the complainants reported that the popping sound was accompanied by some loss of vehicle power; however, in 99% of the incidents reported, the vehicle did not stall.in the very few incidents where the vehicle did stall, most vehicles could be restarted.(4) only a small percentage of the complainants cited that they smelled gas or a slight burning smell when the incident occurred.(5) in all but a very few incidents, vehicle damage was limited to the engine.in one incident, the complaint reported that the fuel rail was damaged and replaced after one of the spark plugs ejected from the engine; however, the complainant reported that the damage did not result in any type of fuel leak or fire.in another incident, the only incident where a fire was alleged, the complainant reported that no fluid leak was observed, but that a fire resulted after the spark plug had ejected from the engine and he had restarted the vehicle and driven to another location.none of the complainants reported any damage to the vehicle hood.(6) only two complainants reported that they observed what appeared to be some drops of fuel coming from the cylinder where the spark plug had failed or on the spark plug itself; however, each of these complainants reported that there was no smoke or flames as a result of his incident.as the petitioner noted, and odi | ||||||
Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING | |||
| 10/09/2005 | 72000 | 1 | 04/01/2003 |
| There is a customer complaint recall on ford explorer sports that ford customer relations said information was sent out on and people i talk to have not received this information. i am currently having this problem with my vehicle and when taking to the dealership i am told yes there was and ford knows that the tensioner chain is bad and they have a quiet recall on them and mine was covered but because of the miles on mine it is not and ford will do nothing about it. they know this is a problem and they should fix it and in all vehicles not just a complaint. the vehicle rattles and does not want to run with this problem. there is actually two recalls on this part not just one and i think ford needs to fix all the vehicle no matter what miles is on the vehicle the coverage is 6 years 72,000 mile i have a 2000 with a little over 77,000 mile only 5,000 out of there coverage area and i have also had to put a new transmission in the vehicle and ford knows that there transmissions have lots of problems also. | |||
| 09/17/2004 | 64863 | 2 | 06/21/2001 |
| The engine has been replaced twice, the steering wheel started to smoke. the dealer stated that there was a mechanical defect in the steering column. *jb the knocking would only occur in the fall and winter month's. on one occasion the while sitting at a red light, smoke started coming from the steering wheel. *sc | |||
| 01/28/2000 | 10 | 01/28/2000 | |
| Timing tensioner was recalled. tensioner damaged my timing chain, which damaged my engine. turn signal switch never worked properly after 31,000 mi, dash lights and guages failed to work consistently or at all beginning 25,000 mi, rear window wiper never wiped properly, heater switch began failing at 36,000 mi. last delimma was catalyic converter going out at 60,000 mi. also, after replacement of tensioner, oil change had been done at same time. 10 miles after leaving dealership, gasket fell off and lost all oil pressure while engine was on. i asked dealership (courtesy ford, pouslbo wa) to check for damage, they said no, it's fine, don't worry. end result, due to engine damage from recalled tensioner+ timing chain, ford agreed to terminate lease early. i will never purchase a ford again. terrible customer service. i contacted the national customer service hotline many times attempting to resolve these matters, never got a call back as promised. dealership never followed up on my complaints and concerns. | |||
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - ENGINE | |||
| 03/29/2007 | 91300 | 1 | 11/01/2001 |
| No events led up to the crankshaft failure. our 2000 ford explorer was being driven as a daily routine trip in town. the car died at a stop light. i was able to restart the car . the car made a loud clunk. i drove the vehicle into a parking lot and shut it off. we had a certified ford mechanic come out to look at the car. he was very familiar with this v6 engine. he stated to us that the crankshaft ford used was a cast iron crank and not a forged steel crank. what happens is the crankshaft will develop cracks in it and eventually break apart. his comment was it was a bad idea and bad design by ford. this mechanic worked for ford for 18 years and stated that this particular engine was used from 1995-2001 and i believe he said it was a cologne v6 .our 2 options at this point is to put in a new motor or junk the car. this vehicle is a 2000 ford explorer sport 2 door. two wheel drive. dealer maintained at 30000,60000,and recently at 90000 miles .current mileage is 91000. oil changed every 2 months regardless. maintenance records are all available. no reason for an important component like a crankshaft to crack and ruin the car. *jb | |||
| 07/20/2004 | 20000 | 1 | 08/28/2000 |
| My ford year 2000 idles rough and stalls in cold weather. i thought the problem was dirty injectors and kept having them flushed which temp. fixed prob. a mechanic stated that it was the timing chain and that ford would fix it for free, for they did on his explorer. i contacted ford and they said that i was over the miles and that it was a customer satisfaction recall. well not only am i not satisfied, but it seems to be a safety factor as well. what if a pull out into an intersection and my car stalls. crossing a highway and my car stalls. i would have thought that ford would have cared more about their customers especially given that this is my 3rd ford and i am only 30 yrs old. regardless, of that fact, thaey should be required to fix the problem in order to keep their drivers safe on the road. *la | |||
| 02/18/2003 | 39000 | 1 | 05/20/2002 |
| Dealer had to replace engine after oil pressure dropped out without warning. engine locked up before i could travel 1/4 mile to get off road. ford motor company offered no help since engine had 39000 miles, 3000 miles over warranty. *jb | |||
| 10/11/2000 | 1 | 10/11/1999 | |
| Oil pressure switch replaced, causing the oil pressure gauge to fail. *mjs | |||
| 10/06/2000 | 1 | 10/11/1999 | |
| The upper and lower intake gaskets were leaking and were replaced. *mjs | |||
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - ENGINE - GASOLINE | |||
| 06/01/2001 | 0 | 02/10/2001 | |
| There seems to be a rod knocking in the vehicle. buerge ford has serviced it for the noise but it still knocks. consumer believes they were sold a faulty vehicle and would like to know if there is anything nhtsa can do. | |||
| 01/04/2000 | 1 | 10/11/1999 | |
| Dealership replaced engine, engine came from factory leaking oil from the oil pan area, oil pressure switch. *mjs | |||
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - EXHAUST SYSTEM | |||
| 01/22/2001 | 1 | 02/14/2000 | |
| The exhaust system sounds lounder than normal. nlm | |||